Familiar
by EverKitsune
Summary: SEQUEL TO 'THE STRANGER.' One year after Zhou Yu returns from Japan, something terrible happens. Can they get back on their feet and recover from this? ONESHOT


**Familiar**

**A sort of one shot sequel to 'The Stranger' as promised. Its just one chapter, but I wanted to express some things that I thought should be wrapped up. I would advise you to read 'The Stranger' first, as there are major facts in there that are mentioned here. But if you want to try it alone, I guess you could, just don't say that you're confused. **

**Set one year after 'The Stranger' finished off.**

**-x-**

A pale hand wiped snow from the stone. Wind tore at his cloak and long black hair relentlessly, howling its fury and blasting white across his vision. Cold seeped in from the snow beneath his knees. He could feel it creeping into the very bones of his legs and sending chills up his spine. His hand numbed from touching the freezing snow but he deemed it unimportant to care.

The wind gave a triumphant howl as his cloak ripped away from his body, being only half on to begin with. He watched the dark fabric slowly disappear in the snow drifts before turning his one good eye back to the task he had taken upon himself.

_I'm sorry..._

His voice whispered, the syllables whisked away by the wind the moment they left his mouth. He ran a numb hand over the characters engraved in the stone, leaving not a single groove out of his soft caress.

_In the end... _

_I could not return the favor._

His eye stung as he fought to keep tears from falling, realizing that the cold would just freeze them to his skin. His skin crawled from the biting cold, already his limbs felt heavy and numb. Bringing a shivering hand to his neck he unbuttoned the top button of his tunic and slid a frozen hand inside his chest.

Grasping the parcel in his hand he pulled it out and exposed it to the elements. The small pouch dropped into the snow, sending a blanket of white up into the air in disapproval. "I was too late."

The guilt in the voice cut through the strong tantrum of the winds like a sword. The defeated voice that slumped the man's once proud shoulders. A broken voice that shattered hearts with sorrow.

The man took in a sharp breath, feeling his throat freeze as cold air invaded into the warm sanctuary. Clumsy fingers struggled to pull the knot of the bag, but they finally succeeded.

Grey powder flowed from the bag easily in the harsh winds. The man slumped into the snow over the grave of jade and stone. He watched as the grey powder disappeared from his vision, taken by the winds. Burying his hands in the white snow, he felt the cold take its toll on them until he could feel them no longer.

_I'm sorry..._

"Sun Ce I am so sorry."

His voice clenched to contain his sobs, but he could not control the tears that fell from his one eye. He lay crumpled in front of the stone, far to exhausted to move. He shuddered from exhaustion and sorrow, and let his limbs give out. He fell sideways into the snow, not caring that he could die in the cold. His eye stared as the characters on the stone filled with snow slowly.

He lost track of exactly how long he lay there in front of Sun Ce's grave. It felt like years...centuries.

_I was too late._

In his minds eye he saw the particles that made up the cure that was supposed to save Sun Ce floated away in the wind over and over, tormenting him to no end.

_Zhou Yu..._

He heard his name and his eye – he did not notice that it had closed – opened in shock. His lips cracked as he tried to form words. He shivered, for he could almost see the form of Sun Ce behind the grave. Through his delirium he smiled just before he blacked out.

_One more mark on the wood for you Ce._

**-x-**

Da Qiao opened the door with a silence that only she had mastered the art of, used for sneaking up on young children and exuberant little sisters. Her brown eyes gazed around the room, a solitary candle on the bedside being the only available light. She stepped forward in her silent way, placing the bowl of hot water on the bedside table next to the candle. She looked at the glowing water in the bowl a moment before unfolding the blanket in her arms and adding it to the growing collection of blankets on the bed, trying to heat the sole person lying on the mattress.

Zhou Yu's shallow breath worried her slightly. She busied herself with soaking a cloth in the steaming water and wringing it out to place on his chilled temple. Her task finished, she turned her head to hold vigil over her sister.

Xiao lay curled up in the chair, her arms wrapped around the small bundle of joy that was no older than five weeks. Carefully slipping the child out of her younger sisters grasp, she cradled the infant in the nook of her arm with practiced ease. She watched Xiao curl in on herself slightly, unconsciously protesting the loss of warmth against her chest. Reaching her free arm down, Da Qiao pulled her sister's throw blanket more securely around her small shoulders and brushed tendrils of brown hair out of her face. A fleeting thought crossed her mind to wake her sister and have her lay down with Zhou Yu to heat him up but it was dismissed quickly, not wanting to ruin the serenity of the moment.

Even with the added weight of her sisters infant, Da made no sound as she crossed the floorboards and slipped through the door silently. Cradling the baby as she walked, her thoughts drifted to Sun Ce, and to how he was gone forever.

Walking silently into the nursery where her five year old girl lay sleeping in her own small bed, Da Qiao walked silently through the room to her nephew's crib, feet well accustomed and used to the layout, even in the darkness. Gently laying the boy down and brushing the small tuft of black hair from his face, she carefully tucked the blanket around the small boy and slipped away.

She turned to look at her daughter with a tenderness only a mother could own. Leaning down she pressed a kiss to the young child's temple and moved to pull the blanket more securely around her daughter. A small hand touching her own made her freeze.

Her daughter had always been a light sleeper, although she moved in her sleep and often got tangled, much like Sun Ce's sleeping habits. Da Qiao let the quilt fall from her hands and pressed her hands against her daughters.

"Mommy...when will Daddy be coming home?" Her slightly open eyes were heavy with sleep. Da Qiao took a seat on the side of her daughters bed and the little girl took the liberty of climbed onto her lap. The little girl shivered as the wind howled slightly against the Wu palace. "I miss him. Its scary without him here." The late wife of Sun Ce smiled sadly, wrapping her arms around her daughter as the little girl tried to get comfortable in her mothers small lap.

"It is scary without him," she agreed, and her daughter shifted again, finally settling on letting her head fall against Da Qiao's small chest.

"I want Daddy to hold me..." Her voice trembled with exhaustion, "His arms are warm and comfy and like a pillow." Da felt an uncharacteristic twinge behind her eyes and was suddenly glad that it was dark, so that her daughter couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. She knew that it was unfair for her little girl, who loved Sun Ce so much. Even though she had been born a girl, Sun Ce loved her dearly and treated her so well. Unable to explain that her father was never coming back, Da had simply told her daughter that the kind man had gone on a journey.

Sun Mei eventually drifted back to sleep in her mothers arms, although she could never find the ultimate comfort spot that all children cherished in her mothers arms like she could from her father. Da slipped the young girl delicately back onto the mattress, where she immediately turned on her stomach and slipped one hand underneath the pillow, while the other curled next to her nose. The elder Qiao slipped the quilt around her daughters shoulders and silently left the room.

She supposed that she was jealous of her sister. Zhou Yu had gone missing all those years ago, and he should have been dead. Her sisters husband was killed with no proof, and then he showed up years later.

Her eyes stung slightly as she held back tears, trying to remain strong for all the people who broke apart around her. When Sun Ce died, there had been a body. There had been no mistake in the fact that her husband was dead.

Her hand trembled as she remembered his final moments. His hand had been so cold as she gripped it in her own smaller hands. He looked at her and smiled slightly, his hazel eyes still burning with a desire to finish an unfinished dream. His hand was trembling as he rose it to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

The hand had fallen limp against her cheek.

Her shoulders trembled slightly, but she straightened her back. Sun Ce had spoken his last wishes to the world.

_Don't look back. Keep going forward. Your legs can carry you through it all. _

The fist had clenched around Da Qiao's fragile hands.

_Be strong until the end._

And so, Da Qiao straightened her back, refusing to let any more tears fall. Her shoulders stopped shaking and her footsteps became more pronounced.

She would honor his last wish.

_I will treasure..._

_My memory of you. _

Zhou Yu raised a weak pale hand out of the confines of the blankets and made a fist. He stared at it, examined the curvature of it in all its slight strength. It was silly. How could a hand be so strong?

And yet, Sun Ce would make a fist of his hand, and seem invincible.

Zhou Yu had not been there at the deathbed. He was there a few hours later, the antidote to the mystic's power in his hand. And then, at the moment he saw the ghostly pale skin of his friends corpse on the bed, he fled.

The eastern ocean had always been beautiful, even in winter. That night, no wind had blown. The moon was full and the water reflected it in all its glory. The water was clear as glass. And although there was snow elsewhere, only a slight sprinkle of the white blanket had touched the shoreline. Whenever something happened that he couldn't seem to stop, Zhou Yu would find himself constantly looking out at this part of the world, searching for an answer he already had.

_When I conquer China, the world will cheer, and throughout all of China there will be no suffering. _

The ends of Zhou Yu's lips rose slightly at the utter innocence that radiated off of Sun Ce when he said that. It was after he had awoken from the battle with Inosuke. Sun Ce's confidence had faltered in those days, as though he were rethinking his dream. Zhou Yu closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to that day.

**-x-**

Zhou Yu turned his head slightly, unwilling to wake from the self made impression in the bed that he rested on. Under the blankets he felt far more comfortable than he had in ages - in his own self induced bubble of air. For the longest time he was content to just lie there without thinking. At least twenty minutes later, he stirred from his half doze, allowing sensations to enter his sleep filled mind.

And he immediately wished he hadn't.

A dull throb on the left side of his face made him wince and raise a hand. Instead of the flesh he had been expecting, he felt heavy cloth covering his eye. His right eye blinked open, disorganized thoughts seeping into his brain as he slowly sat up from his comfortable position.

The last thing he could remember before blacking out was a scream and a knife slicing through the air as it headed towards him faster than he could even begin to dodge. His eye widened. Had he failed? Was Inosuke still living and breathing? Had Sun Ce...He choked, not wanting to finish that train of thought.

"You're finally up."

The familiar voice sent chills running down his spine. Turning his head to the left until he could see the chestnut haired man, he was startled to see the lack of light in the little conqueror's eyes.

"I'm glad," Sun Ce rambled, slumping against the wall and looking at Zhou Yu with a half smirk that had no heart in it. "I thought you weren't going to make it."

Zhou Yu's thoughts raced, thinking of the events that had unfolded. "Inosuke?"

"He's dead," Sun Ce said dully. "And buried with the remains of his estate."

"The poison?"

"Lady Keiko fixed that, turns out she was forced to make the poison, and she made an antidote just for you." Sun Ce laughed lightly, but it was cold, without any warmth.

"Sun Ce what..."

"Yu, conquering China is a good thing right?" The instability in his sworn brothers voice stopped Zhou Yu's mind in its tracks. "I mean, I know it's a good thing...but will I be a good enough for China? Or will I be corrupt?"

Zhou Yu took a deep breath and slipped a hand to his friends knee. "Sun Ce, that depends on where you decide to walk." Sun Ce raised his head and looked at his bed ridden friend with a gaze that seemed so very desperate. "You have legs, use them well. No matter what, keep walking forward, and don't give up. In life there is no place for doubt, only the strength to continue on."

Sun Ce's eyes regained a little light at his words. "Yeah."

"And you'll have your family with you, right Ce?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sun Ce clenched his fist tightly. "I don't have time to doubt. I just gotta do my best, no matter what."

Zhou Yu nodded his head, ignoring the pain that shot through his temple. "That's right." He frowned suddenly, touching the bandage on his eye. "So Ce, what happened to my eye?"

"Uh..."

**-x-**

A light smile spread across his face at the memory, and Zhou Yu drifted into a sleep that would carry him back to a past and to a person that had moved on to a new adventure - one step at a time.

_**Keep going forward. Don't look back Yu, no matter what. There's no time for self reflection. I'll conquer China, and then we'll laugh and cry about all we went through. The whole of Wu. **_

**-x-**

**END**

**No really, END. **

**Finally. I put this off for a really long time... sorry about that! -headdesk- **

**Well, actually, I've had this written for a while - I just forgot about it until I just found it. Haha, so I posted it for you. Finally - only about half a year after The Stranger finished off. **


End file.
